The Escape and Fateful Encounter

Aries groaned as he slowly drifted back into the waking world. He felt the sleep gradually disappear and his muscles felt stiff from being in one position for too long, however, he felt more rested than he did before. He slowly opened his eyes and blinked as he looked up at the white ceiling. He slowly sat up as he noticed he was resting on a bed with bandages wrapped around him where the wounds were. Immediately, he felt something cold and hard around his left wrist and saw that he was handcuffed to the metal bed post. Frowning at the handcuff he took in his surroundings.

The walls were pale shade of sky blue while the door and the window was open, allowing cool, gentle breeze to come into the room. As he was observing the room, he was bombarded by the memory before he fell unconscious. Deirdre and Knights of Cross. He immediately sought comfort in Meciel's presence and panicked when he couldn't feel her presence. Frantically bringing his hand to his chest he noticed that his necklace with Meciel's coin was gone.

His breath started to quicken and he could feel the rushing of adrenaline and he never felt so alone, so powerless. He could feel the blood rushing from his face as he paled and his hands trembled with fear. He fought down the bubbling hysteria tugged on the handcuff as hard as he could. He could feel the sharp edges of handcuff digging into his skin and drawing blood but he could care less, he had to free himself and look for Meciel.

"Fuck! What the hell is this!" Aries yelled in anger as he snarled at the unyielding metal cuff.

He could feel more pain as the metal dug into his skin, resulting in more blood. Gritting his teeth in pain, he grabbed the metal cuff and used it to pull it away from the metal bed post. Unfortunately, without Meciel's help he couldn't use the hellfire or his demonic strength to break himself free.

"Hey let go of me!" He yelled out again in anger.

He could hear the footsteps getting closer and closed his eyes as he sought to rein in his emotions and regain his composure. It wouldn't do good for him if his capturers saw he was afraid or panicking. He needed to be in control of himself. Taking deep, slow breath he molded his face into blank and neutral expression.

Opening his eyes, he saw a tall, woman with golden blond hair enter the room. She was around mid 30's and very slender with stern but beautiful face. He ever so slightly raised his eyebrows in surprise as she was quite beautiful for a human although not as beautiful or attractive as Meciel or Maeve. Her cold eyes regarded with him with slight disdain and her lips were thinned with frown.

"I see you are finally awake." Said the woman.

"Who are you? And where the hell am I?" Aries asked acidly while his eyes narrowed in anger.

"My name is Charity and you are in my house." She curtly answered him.

"Am I still in Israel?" He asked curiously.

"Yes." Charity replied.

"How did I get here and how long was I out? And why the hell did you handcuff me to the bed?" Aries asked again irritably.

"My husband brought you here to heal and you were out for nearly 3 days." Charity answered him while narrowing her eyes at his obvious lack of politeness.

"Your husband?" Aries asked while suspiciously eyeing her as he digested the information.

"Yes my husband." She snapped.

Aries blinked at her attitude. "Is he the one with dark hair with small patches of silver and a beard?"

"That would be him." Charity said as she regarded him with caution.

"He's the Knight of Cross. Was he the one who stabbed me?" Aries hissed in cold anger.

"No Sanya was the one who stabbed you and you are a Denarian." Charity said equally coldly, especially the last part as if the word left a foul taste on her tongue.

'So the Russian is the one who stabbed me.' He thought.

"No shit. If he's the Knight of Cross and I'm a Denarian why the hell did he bring me here?" Aries snapped at her with sarcasm while matching her glare for glare.

"I do not want you here but my husband is a good man. He would not allow a child to die in front of him." She said while her face softened at the mention of her husband.

"Well good. I don't want to be here either. Just give me back my stuff and we'll never see each other again. Problem solved." Aries snorted.

Before she could reply, the door opened and 3 more people walked in. One was a boy with dark hair and dark eyes and he seemed to be around 18 or so. The other two were young girls. One of them seemed to be around his age with long blond hair tied into a ponytail with grey eyes while the other was a smaller girl with blonde pigtails and blue eyes and she seemed to be around 8.

"Mom what's going on? Is he awake?" Asked the older girl as she curiously stared into the room.

"Amanda! I told you not to come in here and Daniel, you should've known better to allow your sisters come in here." Charity scolded her children.

"I was going to stop them but they came up here before I could stop them." The boy, Daniel, said to his mom.

"We heard raised voices and were curious mom." Said the younger girl.

"Hope there is nothing to worry about." Charity sighed.

Aries cleared his throat before anyone could say anything. "As interesting this conversion is, I really don't want to stay here so why don't you give me back my stuff so I can leave?"

"Quiet demon of the night." Daniel snapped at him in cold, hard voice.

He blinked. "Demon of the night? You've been watching way too much TV. If I'm the demon of the night than you are a sad excuse of a left over sperm that had the misfortune to run down between your mother's legs." Aries sneered at him.

Daniel choked at his insult while the three females in the room were gaping at him incredulously.

'Ha! If you are gonna insult someone, this is how you insult others you dumbass!' Aries sniggered mentally.

"Why you little-" Daniel snarled at him.

Aries merely smirked and was about to give another biting insult when Charity snapped at him to stop.

"My husband will decide what to do with you." Said Charity while glaring at him coldly.

"Yea I'm sure he'll choose to kill me. If this is an execution than I want a fucking spectacular last meal." Aries sneered at her while glaring right back at her. After all the shits he had been through, her glare was nothing compare to the look of murderous rage and hatred his enemies gave him.

Charity looked at him in askance as she covered her youngest daughter's ears from his use of profanity.

The older girl, Amanda, scrunched her nose in distaste before looking at him curiously.

"You're like me. You are a wand-user." She stated as she took out her wand before pointing at him warily. Her grip seemed awkward as if she didn't have much experience holding it.

When he raised an eyebrow, she continued. "We found 2 wands from you."

"Brilliant piece of detective work Sherlock. Here, I would give you a cookie for your answer but I'm handcuffed to the bed." Aries retorted sarcastically.

Amanda frowned at his sarcasm but replied nonetheless. "You don't look like a demon. You look like a normal boy." She said curiously.

"Oh, you would be surprised how much of a demon I can turn into." Smirked Aries as he thought of his Bone Wyrm form.

Turning his gaze back to Charity he asked "Are you the one who healed me?"

"No, it was someone else. You'll see him with my husband." Said Charity.

'I need to know where Meciel is as well as my weapons so I can escape. I'm not looking forward to meeting the bastards of Knights.' He thought grimly.

Taking a deep breath like he when meditated, he lowered his mental shield and allowed their thoughts to flow into him. Unlike Legilimency, which required a wand and eye contact, this did not require them and could be used any time he wanted. Meciel just called it Telepathy, the art of reading one's mind without invading other's minds. Now, it would prove to be extremely useful as he was unarmed.

"Where are my weapons?" Aries asked while particularly focusing on Charity's mind.

"Somewhere hidden and away from you." Charity glared at him but Aries smirked inwardly at the victory.

By asking her the question, he had subconsciously brought out the needed information to the forefront of her mind without her realizing it. It is a natural response to bring out secrets to one's mind when asked about the said secret and it was done almost unconsciously and, to a telepath like him, an extremely useful and easy method to obtain crucial information.

'So they are in the house.' He inwardly relieved a sigh.

"And Meciel's coin?" Aries asked undeterred.

A flash of safe room in the house flickered onto her mind but it was gone in an instant, but it was more than enough information for him.

Meciel is still in the house! 'Hold tight Meciel. I'm coming for you.' He whispered in his mind while the tension, worry, and fear that had been eating at him from the inside was instantly gone.

Charity frowned at his question but her eyes slowly widened as she realized something.

"You weren't enslaved. You picked up the coin on free will didn't you?" She looked at him with surprise and icy coldness.

"Well no shit woman. Why the hell do you think I'm asking about Meciel in the first place unless I like being a Denarian?" Snapped Aries with sarcasm oozing from every word.

"My husband thought that by removing the coin, you would be free from the Fallen's presence. He thought it would save you from her." Her voice hardened with disgust at his proclamation.

Aries let out a dark laughter at her words. It was a laughter that no child should be capable of and the other four occupants in the room inwardly shivered at the darkness in his laughter.

"Free me? From Meciel? Don't be ridiculous. Meciel was the one who saved me from my previous life. I knew what I was signing up for when I took up her coin but I couldn't care less. And now, you took her away from me and condemned me to live a life I despised! I was powerless and weak until I met her and she made me strong! She made me into who I am today and I like it!" Aries furiously snarled out at her.

"She's a Fallen. She's manipulating you and when she's done with you, she'll devour your soul and control you." Charity replied although her voice shook slightly from her shock at the child in front of her who was not at all childlike.

"Control me? Oh please, Meciel was never the one in charge of me. Only I am in charge here and if she wanted to control me, she would've done it already when I was much younger, much weaker." Said Aries with derisive snort.

"Why do you defend her? You do realize that your soul would burn forever in the pits of Hell at the end. But there is still a hope for you, all you have to do is to forsake the Fallen and find redemption from the God." Charity said in a soft voice as she looked at the child with small pity.

His emerald green eyes blazed in anger but he gritted his teeth and fought his fury down. How dare does this woman insult Meciel! She doesn't know what Meciel had done for him and foolishly believe that God is better than her when He was the one who abandoned him to his cruel relatives!

Deciding to humor the woman and keep her off balance, he replied back in a soft, yet deadly voice. "So what you are saying is that I should forsake my so called evil ways and Meciel. That I should pray to God once more and find repentance and redemption?"

Charity gave him a stiff yet resolute nod. She was bewildered by his sudden change in demeanor and her children were looking at the scene with horrified fascination but were enraptured by the morbid drama unfolding before their eyes.

"And according to you, God is merciful and never abandons his people right? He always helps those who are in need. He is righteous and does not tolerate evil. Hmmm?" Aries asked in his soft, dangerous tone. His emerald green eyes were now frozen solid and looked even chillier than the coldest of the snowstorm in Nevernever. His dark, piercing gaze pinned the occupants of the room where they were.

"Our heavenly Father is all that is good in this world. He loved us so much that he sent us his only son to be crucified on the cross just to save us." Charity replied with resolute faith.

"If He is so loving as you say, then it is only natural that He listens to those who pray to Him in their greatest hour of needs right? He listens to their pleas for help and gives them what they need right?" Aries continued to ask in soft tone.

"Yes, that's correct." Charity nodded warily.

Aries smiled victoriously. The smile was cold and feral, without any joy or happiness. It was devoid of anything positive but it was one of those dangerous and bloodthirsty smile predators gave to their prey before ripping them apart. Charity and her children couldn't help but to flinch and shiver at his feral grin.

"Then why is it that He never answered my prayers? Why did He never send any help during the 7 years of my life when I needed Him? Why did He stay silent when I begged Him for help? Where was He when I was abused for the first 7 years of my life? Where was He when my uncle beat me near to death every time? When my aunt belittled, scolded, slapped, and called me a freak? Where was He when my cousin bullied me all throughout school and never allowed me to make a friend? Where was he during all those times when I cried out for help? A miracle? Why did he never help me in my greatest hour of need?" Aries whispered dangerously.

Charity's eyes widened as she stepped back in shock and horror etched upon her face. She had paled considerably during his questions and her mouth of agape but no sounds came out. Her children, Amanda, Hope and Daniel were looking at him with mixture of fear and shock.

"I once was a Christian and a firm believer of God. I prayed and prayed for his help for 7 long years as I suffered at the hands of my relatives. My parents have abandoned me and left me on their doorstep where I was treated like a slave and a dirt beneath their shoes. I never did anything wrong and I kept my faith yet He never lifted a finger to help me. Why didn't He help me?" He asked in vindictive pleasure.

The feeling was intoxicating. To see this so called Christian family despair before him. He reveled in their misery and shock as Charity opened and closed her mouth like a fish to try to answer his questions.

"Well? Aren't you gonna answer me? If you're God is as merciful and loving as you proclaimed than why didn't He help me at all?" He mocked her with a dark, savage grin.

Charity didn't have an answer. She stared at him with shock and pity as she stood frozen and her children weren't any better.

"You don't have an answer do you?" Aries sneered at her. "Where is your so called loving God now? He cares nothing but your praise and worship and abandoned an innocent boy to his cruel fates." He hissed in fury.

"I realized my errors. I waited and waited for a help that would never come and I suffered the consequences for it. That's when I realized that God will not help me. Ever. If God will not rescue me, than I would rescue myself. He hates me. And I hate him back." Aries snarled in anger.

"But in my greatest hour of need, Meciel came to me. She pulled me out of the darkness that was my life and brought me back up the surface where the lights were. My uncle had stabbed me with a kitchen knife and I was slowly dying from a punctured lung." Aries idly commented.

Charity and her kids paled at his words. Abuse was one thing but outright murder? Just what had those relatives of his done to him?

"As I lay dying, I met Meciel. She said she would protect me from all those who wished to harm me. She said she would make me strong and powerful so that no one would ever hurt me again. She helped me take vengeance on my so called relatives." Here, Aries smiled cruelly as the memory of Dursley's slaughter came to him.

At their horrified look, he chuckled darkly. He took satisfaction and pleasure from their expressions.

"I ripped them apart one by one and I watched as they screamed and begged for my mercy. I ripped apart my cousin first so his fucking parents would feel the pain as their precious child was ripped apart limb by limb. I grabbed my aunt by her head and bashed her skull against the wall until her skull carved in. And finally, I tortured my uncle until I burnt him alive inside out by the fires of hell. It was high unlike anything I ever felt! I never felt so alive! So satisfied until I slaughter them all in blood and fire." Aries cackled in laughter.

"B-But they were still humans. No one deserves to die like that!" Said Amanda after overcoming his stammer at the beginning.

"They deserved everything I had done to them! After all they had done to me, they reaped what they have sown! People do say that Karma is a bitch!" Aries snapped at the idiotic girl.

"Mercy is the sign of righteousness." Daniel said grimly.

Aries snorted. "I don't give a shit about being righteous. Mercy is the sign of weakness. Mercy is for the weak. I didn't survive this long by being merciful to others, not with enemies like the Order of Blackened Denarius."

"Killing them was my first act as a Denarian and when I look back, I don't feel any regret. Only thing I feel is satisfaction and ecstasy unlike anything I ever felt." Aries smirked.

Sneering at their horror struck expression he continued. "While God never helped, Meciel was there every step of the way. She protected me, nurtured me, and taught me everything I needed to survive in this world. She is the only one I have who loves me back. And I will never let her go."

"You say Meciel is evil but look at what God had done to me, or the lack of what he had done. He allowed me to suffer while Meciel granted me the power that I needed. So really, who is the evil one here?" Aries finished.

They stood still as Aries glared at them with hatred and anger. Charity stood still as a stone as she tried to process everything he had said. His story and words challenged her belief to its very core and she kept telling herself that this was the Devil's way to challenging her belief but not matter how hard she tried, she couldn't come up with a suitable answer to his questions.

'This is the perfect moment. They are sufficiently distracted and I just need to make free myself from this blasted handcuff.' Thought Aries.

Concentrating, he glared at the handcuff that tied him to the bed and willed it to free him. Before his trip to the Diagon Alley, he had to survive out on the streets with no wands. He knew that he had magic and that sometimes, magic reacted to his wishes despite not having a wand. Meciel realized the importance of wandless-magic and together they had constantly sought to master that ability.

They eventually found out that magic reacted to his will and emotions. Powerful emotions allowed his dormant magic to surface to heed his call or protect him while his will controlled it in the way he wanted. It was still difficult but he could manage it without too much of a problem.

Earlier, he was too panicked by Meciel's absence to remember that he still had his wandless-magic at disposal but now with cooler head, he would be able to make use of it.

At his silent command, the handcuff snapped open and Aries jumped away from the bed and pounced upon surprise occupants of the room. Before they could even blink, he had snatched the wand from Amanda's now weak grip and pointed at Charity before snarling out "Stupefy!"

A jet of red light slammed onto her chest and she crumpled to the floor unconscious. Before Daniel could snap out of his shock, Aries also stunned him as well as Hope. Pivoting on his feet, he spun around and pointed the wand to horrified Amanda.

"Now that I'm free, you are going to take me to the room where they have stored my stuff and Meciel's coin." Aries hissed at her.

"You killed them! How could you just kill them!" Amanda stammered out as tears began to leak out of her eyes.

"I stunned them you idiot! They are just unconscious! The last thing I need is for them to get in my way." Aries snapped at her irritably.

Amanda blinked. "They...They are not dead?" She asked hopefully.

"No they are not. Now shut the hell up and lead the way!" Aries barked out his command.

Amanda looked fearfully at him and he sighed in irritation and impatience. "Oh screw this! I'll lead the way myself!"

He grabbed her arm and spun her around before placing her in front of him and he roughly pushed her out of the room. Amanda stumbled out and barely avoided tripping on her own feet. Placing the wand behind her neck he quickly made their way across the hallway as he reviewed the memory he glimpsed from Charity's mind until they stopped in front of linen closet. Clicking on the light, he could see the stacks of towels and sheets that were folded neatly on the shelves and stared intently at the back wall. He could see a small section of the wall that looked misaligned at the corner and could feel the tingling sense of magic around it.

Gesturing at the panel he order her to open it. "It's probably protected by magic your dad used against me. I shouldn't touch it."

Amanda eyed it warily as she stuck her fingers in the small groove as she fiddled around with something before hearing something click and the entire wall shuddered as Amanda pushed it aside. Looking into the hidden room dimly lit by candles he could see the form of his sword wrapped around a bloody piece of clothes.

"Now go inside and bring out everything that was stolen from me. Especially Meciel's coin." Said Aries while pointing the wand at her.

"Are-Are you going to kill me after?" Amanda stammered fearfully at him.

"No, you are not worth killing. I only kill those who try to kill me first or piss me off." Aries snorted dismissively.

Amanda bit her lower lips in hesitation before going into the room and picking up the bundle that was wrapped around the sword. Turning around she walked out of the room and Aries led them out of the closet and down the hallway before making their way to the bedroom again.

Immediately closing the door, he gestured at her to go to the far side of the room after dropping the bundle off on the bed. Carefully maneuvering so that she didn't step on her family, she warily looked at him.

"Is there anyone else in this house?" Aries asked lowly.

"Well mom, Hope and Daniel are here." She gestured at the unconscious forms. "Alicia and Matthew are out. Harry is in bed and Dad and Sanya are out along with other Harry. Molly is out in her new apprenticeship." Amanda rattled off nervously.

"They are all your family?" Aries asked incredulously.

"Well Sanya and other Harry.." Amanda trailed off as Aries let out a chuckle of amusement.

"What's with Catholic parents and their use of contraceptives? Looks like they were true after all." Aries commented idly.

Ignoring Amanda's look of disgust and exclamation, he unwrapped the bundle and flicked the wand at the bloody clothes as the blood stains faded and mended any cuts. He quickly reached for his own wands and sighed in content as familiar power rushed back into him. Still keeping one of his wand pointed at her, he quickly attached the wand holsters and pocketed her wand.

Clearing his throat he gestured her to turn around and began to take off pajama shirt he was wearing. Amanda blinked in confusion and let out of small "eep" as she turned around with blushing cheeks in embarrassment.

"You can turn around now if you want." Said Aries while amusement was obviously in his voice.

He checked his pistol and loaded bullets into the chamber in precise and well-practiced movement. Lastly, he reached for Judgment and strapped it onto his back.

He stared intently at the small rectangular box in front of him and reached out with slight tremble in his hand as he tried to open it. The box was locked and refused to open for him.

Snorting in annoyance, Aries pointed his wand at the box and whispered "Alohomora."

The box snapped open with a click and inside laid Meciel's coin as well as the coiled chain of his necklace. His expression quickly changed as tremendous relief flowed into him. Meciel was safe! With trembling hands, he grabbed the coin almost reverently and closed his eyes as searing Hellfire poured into him again, filling him with rush of darkness and heat that sent pleasurable shiver onto his spine. He let out a soft and satisfied sigh as he felt warm but vast presence, decidedly feminine, swept into his mind.

"Meciel." Aries whispered.

In a soft glow of light, Meciel appeared in his mind in all her glory. Her beautiful silver eyes were bright and danced with happiness and relief as she gave him a delighted smile.

'You are not dead.' Meciel whispered. 'When you passed out, I feared the worst as the Knights took me away from you.'

"It's good to have you back Meciel." Aries gave her a genuine smile.

'It's good to be back beloved.' Meciel smiled back as she reached out with her hand and stroked his hair in a soothing maternal gesture.

Aries closed his eyes and leaned into her hand as Meciel quickly reviewed his memory.

"Who are you talking to?" Amanda curiously asked him. She had watched as he grabbed the coin with trembling hands and since then, he had been talking to the empty air beside him and seemed to be leaning into something.

Aries immediately snapped out and scowled at the girl darkly. His irritation and annoyance clear on his face as she backed up fearfully.

"Just because you can't see her doesn't mean she's not here. Only way to see her is if you pick up the coin." Aries snapped at her with annoyance.

"Oh." Amanda trailed off.

"Now that I have everything. It's time to leave." Aries briskly walked forward.

"Wha-What now?" Amanda asked with small tremor.

Raising an eyebrow, he replied. "I meant what I said. "I'm not going to kill you. I'm leaving and hopefully, we'll never see each other again."

He opened the door and walked out of the room. Descending downstairs he quickly passed by the kitchen and left Amanda's wand on the small stand next to the front door. Stepping outside, he felt the tiny humming of air around him due to the holy ward around him. Luckily it didn't harm him since he was probably invited in by the family.

'Did you mean what you said to Charity? That you love me?' Meciel asked him curiously.

"Every word. I'll never let you go. Not ever." Aries nodded at her while giving her a warm smile.

'I'll hold you onto to that my beloved Aries.' Meciel smiled at him and he felt her warmth spread throughout his body.

.oOo.

It had taken several hours for him to make his way back to the hotel where he had stayed before. Upon entering the room, Nightfang had frantically greeted him as he was panicking when Aries had gone missing for several days. After calming the snake down, he was given a severe tongue lashing from the snake and several threats to bite him on his family jewels. Meciel had been no help as she sniggered in his head and simply gave him "You deserved it" look.

After giving Nightfang few rats he caught, Aries quickly packed up his belongings and put them on his backpack before leaving the hotel. Now that he had retrieved Judgment and got into a fight with Deirdre and Knights of Cross, Aries was eager to leave this holy land behind as quickly as he could.

'With any luck you wouldn't encounter the Knights or other Denarians.' Said Meciel.

.oOo.

A day later, Aries was still traveling by foot. He didn't want to travel into Nevernever again not after his last encounter with Maeve.

'Beloved, I think someone is following us. I don't know who but the person was following our trail for a while.' Mecil cautioned him.

"Is it the Knights or Denarians?" Aries asked her anxiously. After his recent fight, he wasn't all that keen in getting into another battle. Although he was fully healed, he preferred to avoid the fight for now.

'I don't know. I don't think it's the Denarians and the presence is very faint.' Meciel said.

Aries had picked up the pace but after 4 hours later, the he was still being followed and the tracker was gaining on him.

"Well fuck this. We can't out run this bastard so might as well fight him." He growled.

He quickly looked around for a place to ambush and climbed up the rooftop overlooking the wide ground below. After half hour of waiting a man came into view. He was 6 and a half feet tall with lanky build. He had short dark hair and dark eyes with black leather duster. His sharp eyes spotted him holding a staff and silver pentacle amulet around his neck as well as a bracelet.

Meciel was right, this man was hiding his aura but due to their closer proximity, Aries could feel his vast magical aura and immediately recognized him as another magic user. He grimaced as he thought how to deal with this problem.

The stranger looked at the roof he was on and calmly called out to him. "Come out. I know you are hiding up there."

Reluctantly, Aries rose to his feet and jumped down from the rooftop, being a Denarian definitely had its perks as he didn't get injured.

Eyeing the man closely, Aries asked him. "Who are you?"

"Dresden. Harry Dresden. I'm a member of the White Council." The man answered him.

Meciel immediately grew alert. The White Council was a large worldwide organization of human wizard and was seen as their governing body, much like International Confederation of Wizards for wand-wizards except that the White Council controlled the true-wizards. The ones who didn't use wands.

"And what does the White Council want with me? I'm a wand-wizard so I'm out of their jurisdiction." Aries said while closely observing him.

The man didn't look surprised. "I know and you are a Denarian. Carpenters told me much."

"Carpenters?" Aries asked while lifting an eyebrow.

"The family you were with just recently." Dresden answered him.

Aries stiffened. "How do you know them?" He asked.

"I'm a family friend. You sure made a mess when you left." Dresden replied while curiously eyeing him back.

"You are quite young to be a Denarian." Dresden commented.

"And what do you want with me?" Aries asked warily.

"Couple days ago, Michael contacted me about a break in at the base of Knights Templar beneath the Dome of the Rock. Someone sneaked in and killed several guards before stealing something from the Vault. Also, he saw Deirdre battling someone, another Denarian. That was you wasn't it?" Dresden said while narrowing his eyes at him, while especially eyeing the sword strapped onto the boy's back.

"Stealing would imply that I took something from them that originally belonged to them. The correct term would be reclaiming. This sword belonged to Meciel when she was an archangel and it can sense that I, through Meciel, is its rightful wielder. When she fell, it was lost and it seemed Knights Templar were keeping it from her. So technically, Knights Templar were the ones who stole Judgment from Meciel." Aries coldly replied back.

Dresden blinked at the information. "And yet, you still murdered the guards." He pressed.

"They shot at me first. I was content to just reclaim Judgment but they started spraying bullets at me so I killed them in retaliation." Aries snapped at him. Seeing a frown at Dresden's face, he snorted "What was I supposed to do? Go up to the front desk and say 'Hi! I'm your friendly neighborhood hellspawn and I'm here to reclaim the ancient blade of an archangel. So would you kindly give it to me?'" Aries said sarcastically.

He chuckled at his sarcasm. "You are a sharp one kid. Much stronger and intelligent than I expected." Said Dresden with slight amusement.

"If I was a normal kid, I would stutter and blush at your praise and say 'thank you.' But seeing as I'm not, I'll settle with keep your hands to yourself since I just don't swing that way. The last few who tried ended up being ripped apart." Aries smirked darkly.

Dresden almost choked at what he said. "You know, you could be little more grateful to the person who saved your life." Dresden said disapprovingly.

"What do you mean by saving my life?" Aries asked him sharply.

"I'm the one who healed you after Michael and Sanya brought you to their home. I couldn't let a child die. Even if he is a Denarian." Said Dresden while shaking his head.

"Well I couldn't stay at the Carpenter's house until you arrived. You would've taken Meciel away from me. Just be glad I didn't kill them." Aries said stiffly.

"I know. Charity told me what happened. I was quite surprised." Dresden admitted.

'Beloved. I can sense something familiar about him. I can feel the lingering effect of hellfire from his aura. It's almost as if he's a Denarian.' Meciel cautioned him.

Aries frowned at the information. "You are a Denarian aren't you? Meciel can feel the trace of hellfire from you. How is it that a Denarian like you can be a member of White Council?" , he said while looking at him suspiciously.

Dresden stiffened slightly but it was enough for Aries. "Yes, I suppose you could say that although I'm not exactly a complete Denarian like you." Admitted Dresden.

"What do you mean by that?" Aries asked curiously.

"The Fallen I have come in contact is Lasciel. Although I touched her coin, I didn't accept her offer of becoming a Denarian. So shadow of Lasciel resides in my mind." Said Dresden.

'Lasciel is known as the Temptress among the Denarians. Like me, she is a black sheep of the Order of Blackened Denarius. Although she isn't as hated as me.' Meciel informed him.

"Is that so? I admit, you make a quite an interesting conversation but we are straying from the topic. What do you want with me?" Aries asked again.

"I originally came to investigate you to see if you are a threat but after getting into fight with Deirdre and sparing the Carpenters, you are not what I expected of a Denarian." Dresden admitted.

"Meciel had bit of a fallout with the Order of Blackened Denarius. They hate her and she hates them back. And I did chop off an arm from Deirdre." Said Aries with a savage smile at the last part. "I'm the Denarian renegade." Aries said proudly.

Dresden observed him closely as if he's weighing his options. "I assume Meciel told you about the rules of the Old World and Life Debts?" Dresden asked lightly.

"She did." Aries answered warily. He didn't like where this was heading.

"Then I would like to hire you to fulfill the Life Debt you owe me." Declared Dresden.

"What? What do you mean hire me?" Aries exclaimed in surprise.

"I would like to hire you to destroy the Order of Blackened Denarius as well as help me out on my jobs." Dresden clarified.

Meciel gave a start of surprise. 'Be very wary beloved. I don't know if it would be a good idea. While eliminating the Order of Blackened Denarius would certainly be a welcome chance, you are not yet powerful enough to do so.'

"As much as I would like to take you up on that offer, I'm not exactly powerful enough to take on the Order of Blackened Denarius or whatever jobs you have." Said Aries with frown.

"I know but I can obviously tell you have skill and power needed. You were able to sneak into the base of Knights Templar and Michael told me you were able to hold your ground against Deirdre as well as himself and Sanya and you are only a child." Said Dresden.

Aries carefully thought over what Dresden said. It did seem like a good offer despite its daunting prospects. "And what's in it for you? What do you gain out of all this?" He asked suspiciously.

"A chance to eliminate a threat to the world." Dresden said.

Aries stayed quiet and conversed with Meciel for few moments. "Alright, I'll accept the contract and fulfill the Life Debt but only if you teach me magic among other things." As Dresden was about to respond, he raised his hand to stop him and quickly continued.

"If I am to do the dirty work for you, the White Council and the Knights of Cross, I'll need to become much stronger than I am now. I'm going need every skill you know to take out such a dangerous enemies. After all, the stronger I become, the less blood you and your friends will shed since I'll end up doing all the hard work for you." Said Aries.

'And score! If I'm going to fulfill this ridiculous, half assed Life Debt, I might as well learn everything from him and get stronger.' Aries crowed mentally.

Meciel chuckled. 'I can sense that he is very powerful and it will be a good chance to learn from a powerful wizard. Although he is not a wand-wizard like yourself, he can still teach you magic as well as other useful things. But do be careful beloved, it's a dangerous game you are playing. We don't know if he will betray you later on or not.' Warned Meciel.

Dresden had a thoughtful look on his face as he mulled over his words. "Very well, I'll teach you what you need to become stronger but you must swear Thrice Bound Oath to only use it to combat evil. I will not have you use what I taught you for evil purposes." Dresden declared.

Aries inwardly cursed. He might need such skills to use against the Knights of Cross or the White Council later on. "Fine, but I do reserve the right to retaliate if they are the ones to attack me first." Said Aries while seeking to amend his demand.

Dresden slightly frowned but nodded in acceptance.

"So do we have an agreement?" Asked Aries while holding out his hand.

"We have an agreement." Dresden reached out and clasped his hand for handshake and sealed the deal.

"So what's your name kid?" Dresden asked curiously.

"Aries Angelos." Said Aries.

"Come. We have much to work on." Said Dresden as he turned on his heels and walked away.